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By: Alyssa Rodenhauser
Have you ever walked into your school bathroom and seen smoke from the top of the stalls? According to “Drug Watch,” 29.8% of Ohio teens are vaping, and most of them are likely sneaking it around. As mentioned in “HALO Smart Devices,” “Students usually find discreet methods of sneaking in their daily vaping by going to areas that are easy to access and have no direct adult supervision – school bathrooms.”
A lot of teenagers do not really know the risks of what vaping can do to their bodies. In reality, as stated by the American Lung Association, “Nicotine is highly addictive and exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain, e-cigarette aerosol can irritate your lungs, throat, and eyes.” Furthermore, as talked about in Yale Medicine, “The adolescent brain is extremely sensitive to the effects of nicotine, the brain doesn’t stop growing until around age 25.” Vaping is not just affecting adolescent's lungs and hearts, but their brains also. This could lead to more issues with academics and school. Additionally, according to Yale Medicine, “Studies have shown us that nicotine can interfere with memory and attention processing.” Therefore, why would people vape knowing all the harm it does to their bodies?
In addition to that, a fair amount of teenagers who vape do it because of their friends doing it. Even if they may not want to do it, sometimes the majority of their friends are, and they will be more included in the friend group if they do. According to “Rising Researchers,” “individuals who reported using e-cigarettes more frequently and had friends who also used them viewed e-cigarette use as positively affecting their social lives. This perception was linked to the higher frequency of e-cigarette use and a greater likelihood of accepting an offered e-cigarette from a friend.”Although they're gaining friends through the experience, they are harming their bodies in the process. Additionally, are they really "friends" if they're encouraging you to put toxins in your body? , “
The majority of the teenagers who are putting harmful chemicals into their bodies are also putting harmful toxins in everyone else's. As mentioned in “Alberta Health,” “Like second-hand smoke, second-hand aerosol can cause harm, people who are exposed to second-hand aerosol have been found to have cancer-causing tobacco-specific nitrosamines in their urine, even if they don’t vape themselves.” Vaping in public spaces affects more than just the person who is doing it. Nobody should have to be affected by vaping, especially those who do not use them.
Considering that some schools might say it is too much money to put vape detectors in every bathroom, they would still be beneficial. Found on “HALO Smart Sensors,” “They are an effective and affordable solution, and their visible presence acts as a deterrent…When vaping detectors are placed in restrooms, there is a better chance of keeping students vape-free and healthy.” Students may see these vape detectors and see them as a threat to stop vaping altogether which will benefit them mentally and physically.
Although some students may find it an invasion of privacy, their vaping invades the rest of their peers’ privacy. No one wants to walk into the bathroom and have it smell like 10 different vape scents. Also found on “HALO Smart sensors,” “Bathrooms would be a more private and less stressful place to be if students did not have to be disrupted by vaping activity within enclosed spaces.” Students should be able to be in a healthy environment to learn and grow.
All of the teenagers who are vaping may not care, but they are not thinking of their peers who are using the same bathrooms as them. Overall, Aurora High School should have vape detectors in every bathroom.
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